rule of law

Image courtesy of City News (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena). “If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.” — Ramsay, Game of Thrones Articles penned on Groundviews recently by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Asanga Welikala and Gehan Gunatilleke as well as elsewhere, by Jayampathy Wickremeratne, flag serious concerns with the 20th Amendment presented to Parliament last week. In this column, I capture the essence […]

Image courtesy of PMD. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed the officials to treat all verbal orders issued reports presidential media division. The PMD reports that the President has ordered officials to  Consider all the verbal orders as circulars   Those who neglect will be punished   14-day rule is in place   Immediate solutions for […]

“If history is continuity and discontinuity, resolution and catastrophe, it is also surprise and unanimity; a total fascist state that in January 1933 was highly contested and rather improbable was widely accepted and broadly realised one hundred days later.” Peter Fritzche (Hitler’s First Hundred Days: When Germans Embraced the Third Reich) Think of it as the […]

(Image courtesy of www.westchestercomdiv.com) The Retired Judges’ Association (RJA) says it is “gravely perturbed” by the potential impact of the draft 20th Amendment on the constitutional separation of powers, particularly in relation to the selection and appointment of judges to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. In a letter to Justice Minister Ali […]

Professional media industry bodies have raised concerns over certain clauses of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, saying it would have a detrimental impact on freedom of speech, expression and information in Sri Lanka. The statement has been issued by the Sri Lanka Press Institute, the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, The Editors’ Guild of […]

“Former Defence Secretary, continuing his statement before the PCoI probing Easter attacks said, claims that former President Sirisena was not informed of the possibility of a terror attack, which could be carried out by National Thowheed Jama’ath (NTJ) Leader, Zahran Hashim and his followers, by former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director, SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena, cannot […]

It has been my observation for a long time that Sri Lanka was moving towards a major collapse and in the process, it will plunge into a state of anarchy. It was not my wish, but an observation made after analysing carefully the affairs of the country and the way things had been happening. The […]

Speaking at the ongoing 45th session of the UNHRC, on behalf of the Sri Lanka Core group, UK’s International Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French said that “The Sri Lankan Government has also stated its continuing commitment to fostering reconciliation, justice and peaceful coexistence among Sri Lanka’s diverse communities. It has suggested that a new […]

In a letter to the government of Sri Lanka, signed by five UN Special Rapporteurs has called for “detailed information about the legal basis for the search and the confiscation of the computer of Ms Dharisha Bastians, as well as how such measures comply with international human rights norms and standards. If any investigation were […]

On 2 September, the Sri Lankan government gazetted the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution Bill. The Bill reverses key aspects of the Nineteenth amendment that sought to tame the country’s imperial presidency. It will subordinate the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the President, weaken Parliament’s autonomy from the executive, and render independent oversight and accountability frameworks ineffective. While key constraints, […]

The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution Bill (20A) is in the public domain. If I were to describe it in one sentence — 20A seeks to take the country backwards to the 2010-2015 period. The only features introduced by 19A that would survive if 20A is passed in its present form would be the five-year […]

The proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution makes several significant changes to the present Constitution, altering the dynamics of the separation of powers between the various organs of government, with the balance of power tipping in favour of the executive President. Presidential Immunity According to the proposed 20th amendment, the President will be immune from […]

Media Associations are paying attention with regard to the arrest of web editor Chathuranga de Silva. Desmond Chathuranga de Silva, the editor of the lankanewsweb.org website, who was arrested on August 31, based on a complaint received by the Computer Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigation Department, was produced in court on 01st September and remanded until 14th September. […]

Recently, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to amend/repeal (?) the 19th Amendment to the Constitution (hereinafter referred to as 19). The media divulged that the government would retain positive features of the 19 and remove the unwanted. Concurrently, to identify and recommend these a Committee of five was appointed. Background of 19 The 19 has […]

(Image courtesy of blogs.worldbank.org) Although the immediate task of the Government is to resolve the present economic crisis and stabilise the economy, people’s expectations are that the new Government with its massive mandate would navigate the economy from its current economic crisis to long term economic stability and growth. Immediate tasks The immediate macroeconomic tasks […]

In a joint letter to President Rajapaksa, six UN SPs says that “We also express our serious concern over the reported conduct of the CID and other relevant governmental agencies. Mr. Hizbullah was arrested, and some of his personal effects were confiscated, although no warrant or explanation of the reasons for his arrest were provided […]

A news story that said that “CCD pressured me to frame Shani Abeysekara – arrested fmr CID officer tells Magistrate”  appeared on Daily Mirror newspaper on 04 th August was deleted within hours.Senior Journalist Ranga Jayasuriya tweeted at 1.55PM Sri Lanka time thus: Dauly Mirror has first published at 10.34 AM a news story on […]

Image from the protests against October 2018 constitutional coup in, Sri Lanka. Media Release – Appeal – Sri Lanka General Elections 2020. For any country to be truly successful it must adopt a system of governance that generates sustainable well-being for all. In Sri Lanka, our political landscape has got to change in such a […]

A petition challenging the Presidential pardon granted to an Army officer convicted for the massacre in Mirusuvil, has been fixed for support on 24 September 2020. The soldier was sentenced to death in June 2015 for the murder of eight Tamil civilians in 2000 in Mirusuvil but was granted a presidential pardon this year. A former member […]

Image: AG Dappula De Livera, P.C. In his letter to the “Presidential Commission of Inquiry to inquire into and obtain information in relation to the alleged political victimization of Public Officers, Employees of State Corporations, Members of the Armed Forces and the Police Service who held posts during the period commencing from 8th January 2015 […]

Image: Hejaaz Hizbullah. By Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, Researcher at Amnesty International. As much of the island was celebrating the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, senior lawyer and minority and civic rights activist Hejaaz Hizbullah got an unusual call from the Ministry of Health. They said they were worried he may have contracted COVID-19 and advised him to […]

Image: Senior Deputy Inspector General Deshabandu Tennakoon visiting Lunava after killing of a fisherman by the police. From a photojournalist being frogmarched by a suspect cop implicated in Sri Lanka’s 2012 Welikada prison massacre in the very premises of the High Court this Friday as aghast bystanders scuttled out of the way to lawyers being […]

Last month (May 2020) a Magistrate in Jaffna had withdrawn quarantine orders against the organizers of end of war commemorations, based on appeals by lawyers.[1] At least three lawyers have faced reprisals in the days afterwards. Attorney-at-Law Mr. Roy Dilaksan’s house was reported to have been attacked by unknown persons.[2]  Another lawyer who had appeared for the […]

Image: To combat this, a critical mass of civil society must mount an apolitical challenge to the political establishment . Governance in Sri Lanka today is transitioning from a constitutional (albeit flawed) system of checks and balances to tugs of war between competing political power centres that are constrained not by the Constitution or statute […]

During the last few weeks, the media has paid a great deal of attention to fundamental rights cases filed in our Supreme Court. The electronic media, typically expressed half-truths or incorrect information on what these cases were about. Sadly, but perhaps not unexpectedly, opposition parties who should have been concerned with the matter, failed to contradict the […]

Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayaka said in open court that officers of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had attempted to show photographs of Hejaaz Hizbullah at his chambers prior to the recording of statements from two children. When the matter was taken up before Dissanayake on 24 June, he told Hizbullah’s lawyers that prior to the […]

Executive Summary. (INFORM) There were 72 incidents reported during this month of May, reporting more than two incidents per a day. This was a significant increase when compared with the previous months. Another significant difference was 32% of incidents reported from North and East. 14 incidents (19% of total incidents) were reported only from the Jaffna […]

The Court of Appeal today issued an interim injunction order preventing the Permanent High Court Trial- at- Bar from hearing the case against Former Navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and 13 others. The Court ordered that the case will not be taken up until the writ petition filed by Karannagoda, challenging indictments served against him, […]

Image: Under repair: The St. Anthony’s church, one of the churches attacked last year on Easter.   | Photo Credit: REUTERS Meera Srinivasan. Lawyers and activists have flagged apparent lack of adherence to due process by police during investigation into the 2019 bombings. As investigators in Sri Lanka move into the “final stages” of the probe […]

Ahimsa Wickrematunge, the daughter of late journalist and Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, has appealed to the Police Commission to block the appointment of SSP A.R.P.J. Alwis as Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Wickrematunge releasing a statement said that Alwis was ordered to be arrested in connection to her father’s murder and he was unsuited […]